“Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens,
so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
(Genesis 11:4)
Remembering the Flood and God’s Heart
You know that story, right?
The story of Noah’s ark.
God is good and righteous.
Because He is holy, He cannot simply leave sin as it is.
That is why, in Noah’s time, He could not just look away
from all the sin that was spreading through the world where people lived.
God is perfectly good.
But how do you think God felt
when He swept the world away with a flood?
Did He feel relieved as the sinful, dirty world was washed away by water?
I’m not sure.
So I tried to imagine it.
When I think about the character of God that I’ve learned from the Bible,
I feel that God must have been deeply sad.
God is rich in love and compassion.
He is the One who loves all that He has made.
So as He looked at a world being judged because of its sin,
I think His heart must have been very sorrowful.
This is just my thought.
The Bible tells us this:
the God who judged the world with a flood
made a promise—
that He would never again judge the whole earth with water.
And He gave the rainbow as the sign of that covenant.
Fear, Distrust, and the Beginning of the Tower
As time went by,
don’t you think the story of Noah’s flood
might have turned into a very frightening legend among people?
They might have thought,
“If we don’t obey God,
maybe He will punish us like that again.”
Fear may have grown in their hearts.
Instead of resting in God’s promise,
they began to distrust Him—
to wonder when He might sweep the world away again.
So they started building a tower.
They did not trust His promise.
They began to pile it up higher and higher,
a tower so tall that even if a flood covered the whole world again,
they believed they could still survive.
The Tower of Babel.
They were afraid,
and they were trying to protect themselves.
How do you think God felt
as He watched them build that tower with such fear and distrust?
Again, I think He was sad.
A Mother’s Heart and the Pain of Distrust
I have a son,
and I tried thinking about it this way.
What if my son could not trust me?
What if he thought I might hurt him,
and only saw me as a scary mother?
What if he never asked me for help,
never enjoyed closeness with me,
and never felt my love?
Wouldn’t that be heartbreaking?
Is there anything more painful than that for a parent?
Scattered People, Faithful God
“The Lord scattered them from there over all the earth,
and they stopped building the city.”
(Genesis 11:8)
God confused their language
while they were building the Tower of Babel.
People who could no longer understand one another
could not finish the tower.
So those who could still speak the same language
gathered together and left,
and each group went on to form their own community
and live in different places.
God is not like people.
God is the One who keeps His promises.
What Is Your Tower of Babel?
Is there a Tower of Babel
that you are building right now,
because of fear and anxiety
that come from not fully trusting God?
Money?
Fame?
Friends?
Family?
What is your “Tower of Babel”
that seems like it will protect you
and save your life?
I hope you will become still before God in prayer,
and stop building it.
Do not forget:
only God is your strong fortress.
May you trust in the faithful promises of God,
and may you walk in victory.